Buy now or wait?

[mattnewhampshire]

We go end of August every year from Boston to Aruba. Last year when oil was going up I bought in February for our august trip. I checked prices a week before we left and found they had dropped over $300 for the pair of tickets. Luckily Jetblue gave us a credit for the differenct.

I haven't pulled the trigger for the trip this year yet, but prices seem to be trending up fast right now. Should I wait it out or go ahead and grab the tickets?

[Arubalisa]

If you can see in your crystal ball whether the price of fuel is going to continue to rise or fall and the economy is going to get better or worse, I would base it upon that.

We took a chance and booked early, 330 days out and lost.

You are getting much closer but still far from 21 day advance purchase. I would also consider how flexible are your dates.

[fattypatty]

it depends on the summer travel season. they say it's about 3% less than last year but recently the drop off has stalled - thus suggesting that travelers are coming back. that explains why fares have started creeping back up - especially since capacity is about 10% less than last years. if you're using jetblue then you can't get credit up until your departure date and the credits can be given to others - people sell them on ebay.